Officials on Thursday unveiled the first outline of a major redesign of Anchorage's downtown bus depot, proposing to eliminate most of the building's public waiting areas in favor of expanded space for a retailer like Walgreens.
The plans, which officials say are still in the early stages, come a week after Mayor Ethan Berkowitz call for a full-scale remodel of the Sixth Avenue building. Berkowitz said he's alarmed by rising levels of crime and an unwelcoming environment fueled by people who aren't there to catch a bus.
At an Anchorage Community Development Authority board meeting Thursday, architects pitched a solution: Shrink the bus waiting area to a small corner office on Sixth Avenue and H Street, and devote more than half the first floor and all of the second floor to retail. The upper floors would continue to serve as a parking garage.
James Dougherty, senior vice president at the Anchorage firm Rim Architects, said in a presentation the problems at the bus depot are tied to the size of the lobby area.
"There's just too much space," Dougherty said. "The space is beyond the span of control of people engaged in transit."
Dougherty said the new hub should encourage people to move, not linger or sit inside all day. As far as retail, Dougherty said architects envision a second-floor restaurant looking out over Sixth Avenue. Downstairs, a large retailer like Walgreens could take up most of the block facing Sixth Avenue, with buses still loading in front.
Dougherty showed slides of a new facade with vaulted roofing and glass doors that resemble the street view of the nearby Dena'ina Center. He said the design plans were put together over the last five weeks.
The slides labeled the new building as "City Center," suggesting a rebranding effort.
No cost estimate or construction timeline emerged Thursday. Andrew Halcro, ACDA executive director, has said the authority will finance the project from its budget, which mostly consists of revenue from parking meters and garages.
Halcro said the authority will open a page on its website in the coming weeks for comments. The ACDA board will revisit the plans at its January meeting.
Halcro also called the proposal the "most dramatic change to a downtown city block since the Fifth Avenue Mall was built in 1985." At the same time, the city is confronting questions about what would happen to the people who use the transit center as a de facto shelter.
At a news conference last week, Berkowitz was interrupted by depot regulars who challenged the plans and said they had nowhere else to go.
On Thursday, Halcro said ACDA is putting together a working group composed of the Anchorage Police Department, social services providers and other downtown groups to address displacement.